Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report)’s share price was down 1.5% on Wednesday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $520.00 to $506.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Microsoft traded as low as $412.21 and last traded at $416.41. Approximately 14,543,475 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 29% from the average daily volume of 20,590,910 shares. The stock had previously closed at $422.92.
A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on MSFT. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $480.00 target price (up previously from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, New Street Research started coverage on Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $570.00 target price on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $487.33.
Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft
In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total value of $134,145.20. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,686,433. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total transaction of $134,145.20. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,686,433. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Avalon Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 69.5% during the 4th quarter. Avalon Capital Management now owns 29,931 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $11,255,000 after buying an additional 12,271 shares in the last quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. now owns 9,578 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,602,000 after acquiring an additional 1,144 shares during the period. McGuire Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. McGuire Investment Group LLC now owns 52,571 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $19,769,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 14,551 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,472,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. Finally, Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,829 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,192,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.
Microsoft Stock Down 1.1 %
The firm has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.96, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $440.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $421.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.69 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.
Microsoft Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.97%.
Microsoft Company Profile
Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.